Charlie and Vivi's Summertime Lemonade Stand

“We were girls in the days before the Web, cell phones, or even voicemail. Telephones had cords and were dialed by, well, actually dialing. We listened to records and cassette tapes—we were practically grown-ups before CDs came to pass—and more often than not, we did daring things like walk to school by ourselves. Ride our banana-seat bikes to the local store. Babysit when we were still young enough to be babysat ourselves. Spent hours on our own, playing hopscotch or tetherball, building a fort in our rooms, or turning our suburban neighborhood into the perfect setting for covert ops, impromptu ball games, and imaginary medieval kingdoms.”

-The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz

For me, there is nothing that smacks more of a good, old-fashioned 1970’s and 80’s childhood than setting up one’s very own lemonade stand. Here’s what you’ll need to set up shop:

• Lemonade (preferably homemade, but if you’re like us and would rather be honing your entrepreneurial skills than making a sticky mess in the kitchen, store-bought works just fine. We gave our brew a homey touch by throwing in some cut-up lemons and ‘fessed up when asked if we had made it ourselves)
• A pitcher(s)
• Ice
• Cups
• Something in which to collect your money
• A small table
• Chairs or stools
• A big sign

For more ideas that will make you nostalgic and get you through the long, hot summer, check out The Daring Book for Girls (quoted above) and its predecessor, The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden.